Apparatus for ascertaining position relative to a prearranged guiding system.



' PATENTED -AUG.'18,1903.

j m W 1 POSITION RELATIVE TO A DING SYSTEM.

All. 11 1902 m OI U v -PMIARRAN GED APPLICATION r APPARATUS FOR ASGERTAIN No. 736,432. I A PATENTED AUG. 18, 1903.

R. B. OWENS. I APPARATUS. FOR ASOERTAINING POSITION RELATIVE TO A PREARRANGED GUIDING SYSTEM.

' APPLICATION FILED m3. 11.1902. no MODEL. FIE-3- -{Z]-1 4 sums-sum 2.

FIG-.5.

- wi'imeoaeo f PATRNTEDY Arid. 13,- 1903.

. A WB APPARATUS FOR ASGERTAININGv POSITION RELATIVE TO A PREARRA'NGED GUIDING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION IILBD M-AB. 11.1902.

KO MODEL.

Fla. 6.

Wilmzouo No. 736,432. PATBNTBD AUG. 1a, 1903.

R. OWENS. APPARATUS-FOR ASCERTAINING POSITION RELATIVE TO A PREARRANGED GUIDING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION rILnn MAR. 11. 1902.

N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- v 70 u I j Z FIG-8' 1 a o U U j 7 a 77 v 7 FIG-7 WATCH LINE 314 'uentoz NIT-E TATES Patented August -18, 1903.

APPARATUS FOR ASCERTAINING POSITION RELATIVE TO A PREARRANGED GUIDING SYSTEM.

srnclrica'rxon' f rmin part in Letters ?a.te1 1t m. 736,432, dated Au ust '18, 1903.

Application filed March 11, 1902.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT BOWIE Owens, of the city of Montreal, in'the district of Montreal and Province of Quebec, Canada, have. invented certain new and useful-Improvements in Apparatus for Ascertainin g Position Relative to a Prearranged Guiding System; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention contemplates a method of ascertainingposition relative to a prearranged guiding system; and it has for its object to provide means whereby a vessel or other moving body fnay be guided in a predetermined course.

The invention, broadly expressed, may be said, briefly, to consist in arranging an agent capable of creating an active field in a position relative to the course to be followed by the vessel or other body, to have said vessel within such field, means adapted to be aEected by such field being provided whereby the steersman may ascertain if the vessel deflects from its course.'

More specifically, the invention'calls for the establishment of a guiding system comprising one or more magnetic or electric fields the character of which admit of ascertainment, through suitable instruments, of the vessels position. i

For full comprehension, however, of my invention references must be had to the accompanyin g drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like symbols indicate the same parts, and wherein- 5 Figures 1 and 2 are diagrammatic views of a preferred embodiment of my invention where in the guiding agent consists of an insulated electric conductor located'in a river-channel and through which an alternating or interrupted current is caused to flow. 'Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic representation ofa river-channel, showing the method of arranging the channel-conductor relatively to the supplycircuit on shore. Fig. 4 is a view, partly in detail elevation and partlyin diagram, of the means carried by 'the vessel for ascertaining its iosition with relation to the conductor, Fig. 5 being a similar view to Fig. 40f the same means, but showing some of the parts in plan view. I Fig. 6 is a viewillustrating a modified embodiment of my invention where- Serial No.12 7,799. tNo model.)

in; the guiding agent consists of a pair of bare terminal wires or conductors of a difect-current circuit the electrical connection between which is made through the water. Fig. 7 is a view, partly in detail perspective elevation and partly in diagram,-of the means carried by Fthe vessel for ascertaining its position relatively to the guiding agent shown in Fig. ,6; and Fig. 8, a detail planview of the parts shown in Fig. .7; and Fig. 9 is a diagram of a modified arrangement of the guiding system fornfed by two electric conductors;

The generators, conductors, indicator-coils, direct contacts, and telephones hereinafter referred to are and may be of any typewell known to those skilled in the art of electrical construction.-

In the embodimeutof my-invention illustrated in Figs. 1, 2,3, 4, and 5 a single insulated conductor a is laid along the center of a river-channel b, preferably in sections sev-. eral miles inlength, and the ends o each section are connected through magneticallyscreened branch wires sand (1 to the terminal wires f and g, respectively,,(see Fig. 3,) of an alternator (indicated at A)"'or other, means of producing avariable electricgcurf'ent. The magnetic screening of the'wires c and d may beefiected by surrounding same with iron or other suitable material, preferably in the form oftubes h. The means carried by the vessel Blwhereby, the steersman can ascertain the position of the ship relative tothe guiding agent or conductor, will nowbe-f'ully described. t

eferring to Figs. 4 and 5, a base-plate, or bracket 1 is secured to the deck B an'd'located to overhang the stern of the vessel,

" such bracket carrying-an upright pedestal or,

shaft-2;arranged in such a way as to always remain in'a vertical position notwithstand ing the rolling of the ship, the preferable arrangementconsisti'ng of a spherical formation 3 upon the base of the pedestal, fitting asocket 4 in the bracket, and a weight 5,

pendent from the spherical,fo'rmation. Upon the shaft 2 is mounted so as to becapableaj of rotation a collar 6', having a horizontal. 'spin le 6 and a vertical arm 6 projecting therefrom, the horizontal spindle 6 being adaptedto carry rota'tably upon it one, j,*of

a pair of coils j j and the arm 6? to carry rig-:

idly the second, j, of said coils. The collar 6 on the pedestal 2 also carries a pointer 7 to indicate upon a stationary dial 8, carried by the pedestal, while another pointer 9 is secured upon the spindle 6 to indicate upon a second dial 10, carried bythe arm 6". The terminals of each of the coils jj'are connected to the terminals of telephones is k, respectively, and thus form separate closed circuits in which sounds will be created or not, according to the position of each coil relatively to the guiding agent or conductor, as will now be explained.

I have indicated in Figs. 1 and 4 by arcs as, concentric with the cable a, the lines of magnetic force emanating from same and constituting an active field, as will be readily understood, and normally with the vessel directly above the cable and longitudinally in the same vertical plane therewith the coils and pointers on the ship will be in the respective positions shown ,in Figs. 4 and 5- 't'. 2., one coil, j, standing vertically athwartship, the other,j, lying horizontally fore and aft, with its axis in the same vertical plane as the keel-line of the ship, and each pointer directed to such vertical plane common to the axis of the cable and the vessel-keel, but of course the one, 7, pointing horizontally and the other, 9, vertically. "With the parts in such position the coil j is tangent to the lines of. the active field and thecoilj is in the plane of such lines, with the result that no sound .can be heard in either telephone, and consequently the ship is known to be in its proper position relatively to the cable; but should sounds be heard by the steersman in one or .the other or both telephones it will mean that the ship has veered from the course and ,in so doing placed the coils obliquely to the lines of the'active field, thus creating the sounds. It will now be necessary to turn the coils to such avdegree as will bring them into their initial relation to the lines of the active field, the accomplishment of which will be indicated by a cessation of the sounds in the teleph0nes,and havingestablished such proper relation the pointers will indicate upon the dialsv the direction of divergence of the ship from the course and also the location of the cable, so that with such information the vessel can be directed aright.

*Instead of an alternator producing an alternating current in the cable, as above. mentioned, a directcurrent dynamo or other source of continuous electromotive force with a make-and-break current can be also used with equal advantage.

I will -now describe, havingreference to Figs. 6, 7, and 8, a modification of the invention, in which the guiding agent consists of a pair of bare conductors carrying-direct or alternating current, electrical connection betweenwhich is made through the water, and in this case also the conductors are shown divided into sections representing several miles in length and between which are set up stream lines of electric flow constituting an active field. As each electrical field is the same as every other, I have shown one only and parts of two others, (see Fig. 6,) but will describe the complete one. m is one of the bare conductors laid along the bed of the river to one side of the channel and connected by insulated .branch wire m to the terminal m of a short circuit supplied with director alternating current by any suitable dynamo (indicated at O) and n is the other bare conductor laid at the opposite side of the channel and connected by branch at to the other terminal n of the shore-circuit, B indicating the vessel situated above the active field between the two wires m and n. I have indicated by curvedlin'esa: in Fig. 7 the stream-lines constituting the active field created between the two wires m and 'n, and I will now describe the means carried by the vessel for ascertaining the latters position relatively to such field. A bracket p, secured to the deck B of the vessel, overhangs the stern and furnishes bearings 2 p for a vertical tube q, rotatably mounted in said bearings and ot' a length to enable a contact device npon'its lower end to reach the active field. The contact device consists of a square plate 1', secured, as shown, in a horizontal position to the end of the tube q and having depending therefrom four bare wires or fingers s s s 8, each wire passing through and being secured to a corner of the plate, although insulated therefrom, and also being connected by insulated wires 25' t t 25, extending upward through the tube q to contacts u u u u of a switchboard U on deck. The tube q is adapted to be turned in its bearings by means of a handle or lever q at its upperend to change the position of the fingers of the contact device relatively to the active field for a purpose to be presently described, and the switchboard U is provided with a switch key or lever 11, adapted to connect the terminals of a telephone T with a pair'of the contacts u a or u uf, which connect with and correspond to pairs of the contact s's or s 3 arranged diagonally of the plate r. By means of the contact device and other means just described the vessels position relative to the guiding agent (the two conductors m and n) can read:

ily be ascertained as follows: Imagining the points of the respective pairs s s and s s of the contact-fingers as connected by imaginary lines, it will be seen that the imaginary line of the pair s s (and therefore such pair) is at right angles to the stream-lines a: of the active field, as shown in Fig. 7, so that nodifference of potential will exist between the fingers s s, and so no sound will be produced in the telephone while the imaginary line of Y the fingers s s is parallel, and such fingers will experience a maximum dilference of potential, and so create a maximum sound in the telephone, the variation in such maximum sound indicating position of ship with respect to the pair of conductors.

In Fig. 9 I have represented the shore-circuit which supplies the two conductors as divided into independent sections, so that should any break occur in one section the others will not be affected.

Although I have described my invention applied to a river and a vessel following a channel therein,-it can with equal advantage be applied to a coast-line, hidden shoals, or the like,and a sea-going vessel, or used for guidance of any traveling object in any predetermined course.

It is obvious that beneficial results can be obtained from either embodiment of my invention and that other particular means can be used, and changes may be made in the particular arrangement and combination of the several parts without spirit of my invention. What I have illustrated, however, sufficiently enables those skilled in the art of electrical construction to put my invention into practice.

What I claim is as follows:

1; In apparatus for ascertaining position relative to a prearranged guiding system, a submerged electric conductor located along the course to be'followed by a vessel, a shorecircuit connected with and supplying the submerged condu'ctor with a-current adapted to create a magnetic field within which the vessel moves, anda double-coil indicating device carried by the vessel, adapted to be affected by said magnetic field, whereby the vessels position relativeto the submerged conductor may be ascertained.

2.'In apparatus for ascertaining position relative to a prearranged guiding "system, a pair of electric conductors laid along the bed of a river-channel, or course followed by a vessel, a shore-circuit connected with and supplying the conductors with a currentan electric field within.

adapted to create which the vessel moves, and a coil indicating device with telephones connected therewith carried by the vessel adapted to be, af-

fected by said electric field whereby the vessels position relative to the electric field may be ascertained.

3. In apparatus for ascertaining position departing from the relative to a' prearranged guiding system, a submerged electric conductor located along the course to be circuit connected with and supplying the submerged conductor with a current adapted to create amagnetic field within which the vessel moves, and a set of instruments carried by said vessel and comprising a coil indicating device carrying suitable dials and pointers, and telephones connected with said coils for the purpose set forth.

4:. In apparatusfor ascertaining position relative to a prearranged guiding system, a submerged electric conductor located along the course to be followed by a vessel, a shorecircuit connected with and supplying the submerged conductor with a current adapted to create a magnetic field withinwhich the vessel moves, and a set of instruments carried by said vessel and comprising two coils with their axes at an angle of ninety degrees to each other, both coils adapted to rotate horizontally about a common vertical axis and one of them to rotate about a horizontal axis with suitable dials,- pointers, and telephones'for the purpose set forth.

5. In apparatus for ascertaining position relative toa prearranged guiding system, a pair of electric conductors laid along the bed of a river-channel, or course followed by a vessel, a shore-circuit connected with and supplying the conductors with a current adapted to create an electric field within which the vessel moves, and a set of instruments carried by said vessel and comprising a switchboard, a telephone connected therewith,-a depending contact device with fingers adapted to enter the electric field, connections between said fingers and said switchboard and means for turning the depending contact device about a'vertical axis for the purpose set forth.

signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT BOWIE OWENS.

Witnesses OWEN N. Evans,

- FRED J. SEARS.

followed by a vessel, a shore- 

